144th ASMC kicks off tour in Iraq

Photo By Sgt. Spencer Case | Spc. Jacob Street, a medic of Utah's 144th Area Support Medical Co. sweeps out the back of an ambulance in Tallil, Dec. 5. Photo by Spc. Spencer Case.  

TALLIL AIR BASE, IRAQ

12.15.2005

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

TALLIL, Iraq " About 70 Soldiers of Springville, Utah, kicked off a deployment to Iraq with the 144th Area Support Medical Company last month after completing two months of training in Texas.

"I feel it's a great opportunity," said the 144th's 1st Sgt. Jerrid Floyd about the deployment. "This gives my Soldiers the opportunity they need to become future leaders."

The National Guard unit's headquarters is currently at Logistical Support Area Adder, near the ruins of the biblical city of Ur.

The unit's main mission is augmenting the 10th Combat Support Hospital at the outpatient clinic where servicemembers on base go for sick call, and providing ground ambulance support as needed. The 144th also has several squad-sized elements assisting with other clinics, spread out throughout Camp Cedar II, Combat Support Center Scania and Camp Echo.

Though the unit was born as recently as September, 2004 and consists largely of new Soldiers, the 144th's leaders say they have no doubts about their troops" abilities.

"I believe they are fully prepared for this mission," Floyd said. "I think they're more than capable and maybe overqualified for some of the duties they're asked to perform."

Many of the Soldiers already had a chance to prove their skills. Just months after their unit's birth, about 40 Soldiers from the 144th participated in the unit's first mission, providing humanitarian aid in Nicaragua in support of Task Force New Horizons from January to May 2005. The Soldiers stayed in Nicaragua in shifts that ranged from a few days to several months.

"It gave me some more hands-on training for my job in the Army," said Spc. Jacob Street, a medic from Salt Lake City, who spent two weeks in Nicaragua treating lacerations and heat casualties.

The 144th was activated on Aug. 10. The Soldiers say the activation took no one by surprise.

"When I got in the unit I knew I was going to be deployed, it was just a matter of when," said Spc. Kristin Nelson a nursing student at the University of Utah who left behind her parents and eight siblings in Mapleton, Utah.

"It's hard leaving your family behind, but at the same time, this is why we are Soldiers. It's part of our job and responsibility," said Staff Sgt. David Openshaw, a platoon leader in the 144th who leaves behind his wife and two children at Eagle Mountain, Utah.

The unit trained at Ft. Bliss and Camp Bullis, Texas, from Aug. 13 to Nov. 11, where the Soldiers learned skills and in which all the medics had to recertify. They practiced pre-hospital trauma life support and tactical combat casualty care, which included classroom instruction and mass casualty scenarios.

Since the unit arrived in Iraq Nov. 17, Soldiers of the 144th say nothing too exciting has happened. However, that can be a blessing as well as a curse. As Street put it, "A boring day for a medic is a good day for everybody else."

• Date Taken: 12.15.2005
• Date Posted: 12.15.2005 08:34
• Story ID: 4102
• Location: TALLIL AIR BASE, IQ